Protest was a comedy with the people partying on the street after consuming liquor

While claiming that political parties had a right to organise street protests, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said today that the Janabalaya protest march organized by the joint opposition had undermined the peoples’ genuine protest against the government.

JVP MP Vijitha Herath told a news conference that the JO protest was more of a drama than a protest where drunken people had fun on the streets.

“Wednesday’s protest was a comedy with the people partying on the street after consuming liquor. What happens in such cases is the diluting of the protest against the government. That is why it became a failure with even the organizers admitting it is a failure,” he said.

The MP said the government had plunged the country into a grave economic crisis with the rupee depreciating against the dollar each day while the trade deficit was on the increase.

“The rupee is depreciating at the rate of 5% for the last three months. The country has had to pay a loan of US$ 4 billion this year. The cost of living is rising. People need to protest against the government but it should be staged in a meaningful way,” he said.

The MP said the JVP not only rejected the government’s anti-people activities and would act to defeat such activities.

“We will not allow another set of thieves to form a government by expelling the current set of thieves,” he said. (Ajith Siriwardana)